Forevermore
by hootnbutte
Summary: Spoilers if you haven't seen the Series Finale of Haven Takes place right at the end of episode 526 Nathan's POV. She found a way to come back to him and this time she had figured out how to bring James as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Forevermore**

* * *

Spoilers if you haven't seen the Series Finale of Haven

Takes place right at the end of episode 526 Nathan's POV.

She found a way to come back to him and this time she had figured out how to bring James as well.

I don't own anything, just love the show Haven

* * *

So I guess canon is that Paige is a school teacher, but I thought this up before that information was out and I like this version because it carries on the Teagues newspaper legacy.

* * *

Nathan took another deep breath trying to calm his nerves as he watched Paige secure James in the back seat of his Bronco. Only the pain in his hand told him he wasn't hallucinating. Audrey, no, she was Paige now, had found a way back to him – she always did and this time she had figured out a way to bring James, their son, with her. He really just wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go, but he knew it was too soon. He was still a stranger to Paige. She was here, that's what counted. The rest would come; he knew they always found a way back each other.

He finished his call to the garage arranging for someone to tow Paige's car into Haven for repairs, then made a quick call to Dwight. "Dwight, it's Nathan. I've been delayed. There's something I need to deal with first and if things go well you'll understand soon enough. I'll make it up to you, I'll bring you a fresh coffee when I finish up here." That seemed to appease Dwight for the fact Nathan was running late. "OK, see you in a bit."

Nathan walked back to the Bronco, where Paige was already settled in the passenger seat, and climbed in. "Ok, the garage is sending someone out to tow your car, they'll look at it right away to see what needs to be repaired and they'll contact me at the diner to let us know what's happening. Are you ready to go?"

"Yup, we're all bundled in and all our stuff is in the back of your truck. I can't thank you enough for helping us out," she said as she looked back at James who was smiling from his car seat.

"No problem."

Since only been a month had passed since Audrey left, Nathan knew there were going to be people who would recognize her and he didn't want that to spook Paige.

"Before we go, I should warn you, you look a lot like a lady who used to live here, her name was Audrey Parker" and with that, Nathan pulled out the picture Vicki had given him this morning to show Paige.

Paige took the sketch from Nathan's hand and looked at it. "My god, she could be my twin."

"Yes"

"Wait a minute, you said Parker…when you knocked on the window, you weren't joking that I had parked the car, you thought I was her didn't you?"

"Yes, um, no, you look like her, but no, I know you're not her." He knew he couldn't tell her the truth yet.

"Is she in town? Can I meet her? I don't have any family other than James, maybe we're related."

I'm sorry, no you won't be able to meet her, Audrey died." Nathan said a little wistfully, not knowing what other excuse he could use right now.

"I'm sorry, it sounds like she was important to you"

"She was. Anyway, chances are others in town will recognize you as Audrey so don't be surprised, just let them know you're Paige, it'll be fine." He hoped that would be the case as some, especially the Guard, would probably fear that the troubles were coming back. He needed to talk to Dwight about that.

"Thanks for letting me know" Paige settled back in her seat and started chatting about James and their trip thus far. Nathan smiled as he drove relishing listening to her talk.

* * *

Nathan, Paige and James got settled in a booth at the diner. The waitress brought over the coffee pot and menus for the two of them. Nathan, as usual had a coffee and Paige took a coffee as well but also asked for a glass of water and a bowl of ice.

"What do you take in your coffee?" Nathan asked; he was looking for how much of Audrey was in Paige. He knew he probably shouldn't do that, but it was hard not to.

"A little cream, please." She answered "I used to drink it black but ever since I had James I've wanted cream in my coffee." Paige smiled as she shared that tidbit.

The waitress brought over the glass of water and bowl of ice and took their orders. Paige ordered the Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes and Nathan ordered a stack of buttermilk pancakes with a side of bacon. After the waitress had left, Nathan raised his eyebrow and smirked at Paige.

She looked at him with a grin on her face and chuckled. "What? So I have a sweet tooth and I've never had Strawberry Shortcake pancakes before." She then grabbed Nathan's right hand by the wrist and put his fingers into the bowl of ice. Shocked by the cold, he immediately took his hand out and held it to his chest. "Hey, that's cold"

Paige reached back over the table and grabbed his wrist again. "I'm sure it is, but it will keep the swelling down on your fingers and also help keep the pain down. You're still injured even if you pretend it doesn't hurt. Keep your hand in there and I'll see if I can find a towel in James' things that will work better for holding the ice."

Nathan did as he was told, he knew he wasn't likely to win this battle and true to her word, Paige found a towel, put some ice in it and put that on his hand rather than leaving his hand in the bowl of ice. She then pulled out a bottle warmer to warm up some formula for James as he was starting to fuss. Just as Paige tested the formula to make sure it was the right temperature, the food arrived at the table. Paige looked a bit disheartened that her pancakes would have to wait while she fed James.

"Here, I'll feed James, while you eat, I'm guessing you probably don't get to enjoy your food hot too often." Nathan offered.

"I don't know, James is pretty particular about who feeds him, but if you want to try, go ahead, I doubt it will work though."

Nathan took the bottle from Paige and turned to James and spoke to him. "You're going to let your mommy have her pancakes right James, you and I are going to get along just fine aren't we? Yes we are." James gurgled at Nathan, looking at him with his big blue eyes his little hands were reaching for the bottle, he was so excited about being fed. Nathan started to feed James and James immediately took to the bottle with no issues. Paige looked in awe at how James accepted being fed by Nathan.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be eating your pancakes while I feed him" Nathan said with a sly grin on his face.

Nathan's comment brought Paige out of her daze. "Oh right, I'm just not used to James taking so quickly to someone. He tends to get really fussy about who feeds him." Paige quickly started eating her pancakes while they were still hot.

"So what brings you to Haven?" Nathan asked curiously.

"Well a lot of things just came together to be honest, it's almost like it was fate. I was an investigative reporter in Charlotte, North Carolina and then when I had James, my priorities obviously changed. I decided I wanted to do something different and wanted to raise James somewhere safer and Maine is actually one of the safer States in the country. Then as luck would have it, when I was trying to decide what to do I got a call from a lawyer, at Barn and associates, telling me I had inherited money from a late great uncle I never knew I had. So my Great Uncle, David Smith, if you can imagine a name more non-descript, leaves me some money, not a huge amount, but enough for me to maybe buy a small town newspaper to run. Then, when I mentioned this to the lawyer, Vince, he thought he had heard that The Haven Herald might be for sale if I was interested. Of course I was and voila, here we are."

After a moment Paige added. "Hey, you wouldn't by any chance know who I would contact about The Haven Herald would you?"

Nathan gave her a lopsided grin, "As a matter of fact I do. I was just on my way to see him when I stopped to help you. I'll take you to see him after we're done here if you'd like."

"That'd be great," Paige sighed. "Now give me that bottle, I'll finish feeding James while you eat your pancakes. They're probably pretty cold by now, but thank you for feeding him so I could eat."

"That's fine, I don't mind eating them cold. They have a different texture than when they're hot." Nathan replied.

"You're an odd man, Officer Nathan."

"So they keep telling me." Nathan said with a smirk.

Just then Officer Rafferty came by the table. "Hi Chi…" She stopped short when she saw Paige. "Detective Parker?!" She said quizzically.

Nathan piped up immediately, "actually, this is Paige and her son James. They just arrived in town this morning. What can I do for you Officer Rafferty?"

"Oh, sorry Chief. There's no troubles are there?" Rafferty tensed a bit but took the hint from Nathan and didn't say too much, but she obviously was worried if the troubles might be back.

Nathan gave Rafferty a subtle shake of his head. "No troubles, other than Paige's car went off the road out on Chester Street."

Rafferty relaxed with this. "Oh, that's why I'm here. Ron, from the garage, asked me to pass on a message. He took a look at the car and there's some damage to the axel. He's ordered parts and they should be here in a few days."

"Thanks Rafferty."

"No problem Chief." Rafferty turned to Paige. "It was very nice to meet you Paige."

"You to" Paige responded, looking a little disconcerted. After Rafferty left, Paige turned to Nathan. "You're the Chief of Police!" she sputtered.

"Er, yes, is that a problem?" Nathan asked trying not to laugh at Paige's response.

"Yes, well no, I guess not" Paige realized "Just surprised I guess and I shouldn't be taking you away from your job after all you have a TOWN to look after."

"It's fine. Haven's pretty quiet these days. I've got officers that can look after things for a day or so. And you know, helping people who drive off the road is part of my job" he teased her.

Paige grinned, "well, as long as it's part of your job."

Nathan finished his pancakes. "If you're ready, I can take you over to meet Dwight Hendrickson now. He's the person that you need to talk to about buying The Haven Herald."

"Ready when you are."


	2. Chapter 2

Nathan and Paige arrived down at the docks where Dwight was fishing with Lizzie and McHugh and as promised Nathan brought coffees for Dwight and McHugh and a hot chocolate for Lizzie. Paige carried the drinks and Nathan carried James. Paige had laughed at Nathan's willingness to look after James, but she didn't object to his assistance.

As they approached, Nathan saw Dwight giving him an inquiring look. Nathan couldn't help but smile at his good fortune. At least he knew that Dwight would follow his lead and not start asking a lot of questions in front of Paige. He'd explain it all to him later. Nathan was pretty sure McHugh would do the same.

"Dwight, this is Paige and her son James. Paige just arrived in town today. She heard the Haven Herald might be for sale so I brought her down to meet you since I'm guessing you would be the one selling it."

"I guess I would be" a surprised Dwight responded. "I still haven't got used to the fact that the Teague's left everything to me."

"Well Vince always did think of you as a son."

"It's very nice to meet you Paige, I'm sure we can work something out regarding the newspaper. I don't have an interest in running it but I know the Teague's would have liked it to continue."

Just then, Lizzie came running over. "Uncle Nathan, can you come over and help me with my fishing rod?" She grabbed his hand that wasn't holding James' car seat and dragged him over to where her fishing line was. While Nathan fixed her fishing line, Lizzie became fascinated with James as he gurgled and smiled at her. What's his name?"

"His name is James."

"Do you think I can babysit him? I'll take really good care of him," she asked. Nathan smiled "I think you might be a little young yet to babysit James, but maybe if you ask your dad and Paige, they might let you visit with him."

Lizzie ran back over to her dad, "Daddy, can I, can I visit James sometime?"

Nathan monitored the conversation as he continued to fix Lizzie's fishing line and watch James.

"Well, its okay with me if Paige says it's okay" Dwight smiled at his daughter then looked at Paige.

Paige laughed "How about James an I get settled first and then we'll see if we can arrange something."

Nathan came back over to where Dwight and Paige were finishing up their conversation. "Ready to go?"

"Yes, I think it's time for James and I to get to the boarding house and get settled. It looks like James is about ready for his nap."

As they walked back to the Bronco "So did you get things sorted out with Dwight?"

"He's going to look into it and get back to me in a couple of days. Which is good because I want to take that time to look around the town and get a feel for it before I take the next step. So far though it looks very promising." Paige smiled and glanced at Nathan when she said that.

"If that's the case, since your car is getting repaired, can I show you a bit more around town?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"Rain check? I really would like to get settled in the boarding house and even though it's early, James and I have had a long day. I'd like to take it easy the rest of today. Maybe you could just drive us over there now? If you wanted to show us around tomorrow I wouldn't say no." Then as if Paige realized she might be a bit presumptuous, "that is if you don't need to work… Do you need to work, tomorrow that is?"

Nathan happily replied "I can show you around tomorrow, I'll rearrange my work schedule, I doubt there will be anything the department can't handle without me. I could pick you up around 10?"

"I would love that, thank you, and thanks again for helping me today I really appreciate it. I feel like you're my first friend in Haven."

"I am." Nathan whispered, though it practically caught in his throat. He looked at her in wonder, as he opened the passenger door for her and James to get into the Bronco.

After Nathan dropped off Paige and James and all their things at the boarding house, he was restless. His mind was going a mile a minute and he needed to talk to someone. He called Dwight knowing Dwight would be honest with him and he also knew Dwight would want answers. Luckily when Nathan called they were just finishing up fishing for the day so Dwight invited Nathan over to his place for a beer.

It only took Nathan a few minutes to get to Dwight's place. He didn't even need to knock on the door and Dwight was inviting him into the house. Dwight went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of beers. He came back to the living room, handed Nathan a beer and indicated for him to sit down. Nathan, who had been moving around restlessly, sat at the table and Dwight sat down opposite him.

"So she's back"

"Yeah" Nathan smiled.

"And James…he's your son?"

"Yeah" Nathan's smile grew wider.

"How is that possible?"

"How is any of this possible, you have Lizzie back after all?"

"You're right. Hey, I'm happy for you man, but geez, I gotta ask does this mean the troubles are coming back 'cause I really don't want to go through that again?" Dwight took a swig of his beer waiting for Nathan's answer.

Nathan stood up and started pacing. "No, I talked to Gloria this morning, the genetic marker is completely gone, the troubles aren't coming back. Maybe you can pass that information on to the members of the Guard. I really think Audrey must have just figured out a way to come back to me."

"Does Paige remember anything?"

Nathan sat down. "Nothing of the troubles. As far as she's concerned she just arrived in Haven today." Nathan stood up and started pacing again.

"Okay, obviously something's bothering you Nathan, so spill it."

"I don't want to scare her off, but I don't want to lie to her, she should know the truth about the troubles and herself. Lies are a big part of what caused so many problems in Haven in the first place. I don't want that, but how do I tell her? When should I tell her?"

"Ah," Dwight nodded in understanding. "I'm not sure there's a good answer to that one. But I agree with you, you will need to tell her the truth eventually."

"I showed her a sketch of Audrey that Vicki did for me, so she does know there used to be someone here that looked like her. She seemed to take that okay."

"Well that's a start. You and Audrey knew each other so well, all I can think is that you'll know when the time is right to tell her everything."

"Yeah" Nathan finished off his beer. "Thanks for the beer and the talk."

"Anytime and good luck."

Nathan left and made a few other phone calls to people that he thought he might introduce Paige to tomorrow when he showed her around town. He wanted Paige's first day seeing the town to go as smoothly as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Nathan arrived promptly at 10:00 am, eager to spend more time with Paige and James.

"Ready to go?"

"Just need to put James in his car seat and put my jacket on and then we are good to go."

"I'll put James in his car seat, you can get your jacket." Nathan reached for James, "come on James, let's get you settled."

"I still can't get over how well James has taken to you, he's usually so fussy with strangers."

"What can I say, I'm a likable guy" Nathan grinned.

Nathan then proceeded to show Paige around town. He showed her Tuwiuwok Bluffs, where the lighthouse used to be (earthquake), and where the armory used to be (gas leak). He showed her the Haven public pool and the outdoor pool (closed for the season and for repairs from the meteor shower).

"Um, Haven seems to have had some bad luck lately, gas leaks, a meteor shower, and an earthquake." Paige noted.

Nathan brushed it off as best he could. "Yes, we've had a bad year, but the pipes in town have all been retrofitted finally after years of needing work done. We normally get an earthquake every couple of months and usually they are so minor you don't even feel it. As for the meteor shower, well that is pretty rare so the likelihood of it happening again is remote." He wanted to give her some reassurances since Paige was looking for a safe place to raise James. Luckily she also noticed the quaint houses, the gazebos, and scenic views helping to offset some of the destruction around town. She asked where the Haven Herald offices were so he took her there and he also showed her where Haven PD was, in case she was ever looking for him. He also took her to the Haven Hospital to meet Gloria, Vicki, and Aaron as he thought it would be nice for her to know there were other children around James' age in town. He finished off by taking her and James to Rosemary's for a late lunch, which was the perfect way to finish the day as Paige immediately fell in love with the cupcakes Rosemary made.

Nathan hesitantly mentioned to Paige when he took her home. "I have to work the next few days, but Saturday, since the weather is still good, there's a group of us getting together to do some home repairs on some houses that were damaged by a gas leak. We're hoping to get a few more houses fixed up so that people can be in their homes before Thanksgiving next Thursday. If you want you could come out and get to know the people in town a bit better and maybe…maybe we could see each other?"

"I'd like that. My car's supposed to be ready late tomorrow so I'll be able to do some exploring on my own. And I'd love to get to know people in town a bit better and see you to." She smiled.

"Great, I'll leave you the address for Saturday and you and James can come by whenever you like, I'm pretty sure Gloria is bringing Aaron, Dwight will be there and Lizzie would love to play with James again. Oh, and Rosemary is going to be manning the food tables."

"Then I'll definitely be there. Thank you for a wonderful day." Paige gave Nathan a peck on the cheek and left with James to go into the Boarding house.


	4. Chapter 4

Saturday morning found Nathan working with Dwight and McHugh repairing a roof on one of the houses damaged by the troubles. They had been working for a few hours, when Nathan stood up and looked down at the lunch area. The area was nicely decked out with plates of food and propane heaters to keep people warm when they took their breaks. There were plenty of people around either helping do the repairs or just lending their support. In the middle of the crowd Nathan's eyes were immediately drawn to where Paige and James had arrived. He immediately started smiling and Paige, as if knowing she was being watched looked up at Nathan, smiled back and waved, then leaned down to say something to James. Nathan was immediately needled by McHugh to get back to work, as they didn't have much time to get these houses completed, as next weekend was Thanksgiving.

All in all it was a successful day for everyone. The group managed to get all three houses fixed up so that people could move back in. Whenever Nathan looked down to see what Paige was doing, she was meeting and talking to different people and every so often he would see her looking up at him and smile.

When they finally came down off the roof, Nathan sought out Paige. "Hi" He said, suddenly self-conscious.

"Hi" she breathed back, smiling. "Um, if you're interested, Gloria and Vicki offered to look after James tonight so that I can cook you dinner as a thank you for everything you've done for me and James."

"You don't have to do that" Nathan responded

"I know I don't have to do it, I want to do it. Really, after all you've done for us, it's the least I can do."

"Then I accept, thank you."

* * *

As Paige prepared dinner for them, they chatted about the day and plans for the next week.

"Gloria invited James and me for Thanksgiving dinner next week. She said it was going to be just friends getting together and being thankful for where we are all at now. It was very nice of her to invite us. Are you going to be there?"

"She asked, but I told her I'd be working. It's been a tough year for people in Haven and I'd like, as much as possible, to let my officers be able to spend time with their families this year. They deserve it. I'm glad to hear you'll be spending Thanksgiving with friends."

"It is; everyone is so nice here. You know I've never felt like I belonged anywhere, but I do here."

"Speaking of which, have you managed to settle things with Dwight about buying The Haven Herald?"

"We're getting there. I'm hoping we can get the legal papers all signed this week and then the newspaper will be mine the first week of December."

"That's great, I'm really happy you're getting what you want and it's going to be great for the town to have their newspaper back.

"Dinner's ready so let's eat. I'm starved!"

* * *

"That was delicious, thanks for cooking" Nathan smiled at Paige as he put his napkin on the table.

"It was only spaghetti, nothing fancy, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll just clear up the dishes."

"No, I'll get the dishes since you did the cooking. Do you want more wine?" Nathan started to get up to grab the plates, but his shoulder muscles had stiffened up from working today. "Oh, ouch…"

"Yeah, I think not," Paige stood up and took the plates from Nathan. "I'll grab the wine and while I do that why don't you turn your chair around and I'll give you a bit of a shoulder massage to loosen those muscles a bit."

"You don't need to do that," Nathan stated, however he did as she suggested and turned his chair around. He also grabbed a pillow to lean on so it would be more comfortable.

From the kitchen Paige commented, "You know you really need to stop saying that. I know we haven't known each other very long but I rarely offer to do something unless I really want to do it and it seems to me that you need to learn to accept people's appreciation for what you do."

"Probably."

Paige came back with the wine and started massaging Nathan's shoulders through his t-shirt. She pressed on a particularly sore muscle and Nathan let out a groan.

"You can't tell me you've never used these muscles before." Paige goaded him.

"Just not used to feeling it." Nathan answered wryly.

"Oh, tough guy." Paige said amused by Nathan's response. Nathan tensed at this comment, but quickly covered it by rolling his shoulders. Still amazed when the similarities to all 'Audrey's' personas would come out.

Paige continued to massage Nathan's shoulders and he started to relax and warm to her touches, so much so that he closed his eyes just enjoying the feel. As a result he was taken completely unaware when she whispered in his ear. "You know I could do a much better job if you laid down on your bed and took your shirt off."

Nathan practically leapt out of his chair, knocking it over, but he kept ahold of the pillow in front of himself as he turned to face her. "I, uh, I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"Why do I always go for the shy ones?" Paige quietly said half to herself as she looked anywhere but at Nathan. Then she turned to look directly at Nathan. "Why not?"

"I don't think I'd want it to stop with just a massage." Nathan revealed honestly.

She walked toward him, bringing her hands up to his cheeks, "what makes you think I want it to stop either? I feel like there's something special between us. Am I wrong?"

Nathan's voice caught, "you're not wrong, but…but are you sure?" He wanted desperately to be with her, but he wanted to make sure he wasn't rushing her.

"Yes" she quietly replied before kissing him softly on the lips. The kiss deepened as Nathan dropped the pillow and groaned into her mouth. He bent slightly to put his arms around her waist as Paige put her arms around his neck and as he stood straight he brought her up with him, so that they could continue kissing as he walked her into the bedroom where they lost themselves in each other.

* * *

In the morning, Nathan awoke to Paige snuggled up to him and his arm around her waist. When he stirred, Paige rolled over to face him.

"Good morning" she said with a smile on her face.

"Good morning" he smiled and asked her quietly "can I make you breakfast?"

"Pancakes?" Paige asked eagerly.

Nathan started to get up and put his pants on. He grinned at her, "of course, would it be anything else?"


	5. Chapter 5

Nathan was in the kitchen making pancakes thinking about the previous night. It was fantastic being with Paige and things were progressing with Paige faster than he expected. He probably shouldn't be, but was already in his head thinking about how he could rearrange the house around so that Paige and James could move in.

Nathan was smiling when he heard Paige coming from the bedroom and looked up, but the smile dropped from his face when he saw Paige was already dressed and just doing up a final button on her shirt cuff.

"You…you're leaving?" Nathan said trying not to sound disappointed.

"I am" Paige agreed as she came into the kitchen to stand beside Nathan and kiss him. She continued, "after breakfast" she smiled. "I didn't realize how late it was and I need to go pick up James. It was very generous of Gloria and Vicki to take care of him last night; I don't want to abuse their generosity.

Nathan relaxed with that. "Of course. So what do you and James have planned for today?"

"James and I are going to have an exciting day, reading Mother Goose and other stories, then bath time, and then when he lays down for a nap I think I'll be joining him." She stifled a yawn still smiling. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

Nathan smiled back at that, "no, I guess not. Pancakes are ready, help yourself."

"Mmmm, they smell great" as she started digging into them.

Nathan, couldn't help himself, he blurted out "when can I see you again?" Then he stopped "that is, that's if you want to….see me…again." Could he have been more awkward? He thought to himself.

"Oh, I definitely want to see you again" Paige said suggestively as she eyed his bare chest."

"Good" he said with a half smile, "How about tomorrow? I have to work, but I could come over to your place after and I could see James too. I'll bring Chinese, say around six o'clock."

"I would love that, it'll give me a chance to give James his dinner before you get there."

* * *

The next night found Nathan at Paige's door, Chinese food in hand.

Paige had just finished feeding James when Nathan arrived so Nathan was able to spend some time playing with James while Paige cleaned up so that they could eat.

Nathan was dancing James around the room making him laugh. Nathan was so happy to be able to spend time with his son, but he had to catch himself a few times not to say that out loud.

"Ok you two, enough with the dancing, it's time for one of you to go to bed."

Nathan turned towards Paige and with a straight face said "Okay, but I thought we would eat first."

"Ha ha, you're here for dinner and if you're lucky maybe I'll let you stay a little longer."

Nathan handed James back to Paige "well I am feeling pretty lucky right now" as he leaned in for a kiss, but Paige turned her head away even though she had a mischievous grin. "No way mister, dinner first then I'll consider possibilities for the evening."

Nathan let out a sigh, "fine, but you really shouldn't mess with my lucky streak."

"Your lucky streak eh, well lets eat and then we can see what out fortune cookies say about your lucky streak" she teased.

They chatted about their days while they ate the Chinese food and then Paige excitedly grabbed for the fortune cookies and held them up, one in each hand. "Okay, pick one."

"The one in your right hand."

Paige handed it over to Nathan. "Okay, open it, what does it say?"

Nathan chuckled at her and opened his cookie. "It says 'a lifetime of happiness is in store for you.' Not bad I think I could work with that. What does yours say?"

Paige broke open the cookie, "oh, I got two fortunes. Hmmm, this ones interesting it says 'you will soon discover a major truth about the one you love most'. I'm not sure James has too many secrets to tell me." She joked, but Nathan had taken the wrong time to take a drink of water and choked on it when she mentioned James given the secrets that were still between them.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked starting to get up.

Nathan put up his hand to say he was okay "I'm fine, just breathed in at the wrong time." Then to take attention away from what that first fortune meant he asked. "What does your other fortune say?"

"It says 'The love of your life is sitting across the table from you'." Paige and Nathan shared a look but Paige looked away appearing a bit uncomfortable. Nathan decided to take a chance. "That sounds like a very good fortune to me, but you can always tuck it away for now and share mine for tonight" he suggested.

Paige relaxed, "Good idea, a lifetime of happiness sounds really good to me right now and I've certainly been happy since I've arrived in Haven."

Nathan smiled, "me too."


	6. Chapter 6

Thanksgiving evening found Nathan at the Police Station with just a few officers to cover what would hopefully be a very quiet evening. At least working that night gave Nathan a chance to catch up on some paperwork. Not that there was nearly as much paperwork as there had been with the troubles in town.

Stan knocked on his door. "Hi Chief, there's someone here to see you."

"Thanks Stan, send them in"

"Sure boss."

Nathan looked up to see who had come to see him and was pleasantly surprised to see Paige smiling back at him.

"I hope you don't mind, I brought you some dinner." She held up the package she was holding.

"You didn't need to do that." Nathan said smiling as he came around to the front of his desk and gave her a kiss putting his arms around her waist. "But I'm very happy to see you."

"Actually I did" she joked putting the food down on his desk so that she could put her arms around his neck. "Gloria insisted that I bring you dinner and wouldn't take no for an answer. She said something about you probably forgetting to eat."

"There are Slim Jims in the kitchen I could've eaten" he said with a smirk.

"Slim Jims, really…then I am glad Gloria insisted that I bring this by"

"Remind me to thank Gloria later for the food and for sending it with you so that I could see you today" he said as he stole another kiss holding her close.

"Will I be able to see you later this week?" Paige asked.

"I'm not sure, the week after Thanksgiving tends to be pretty busy, minor incidents usually but everyone wants to get their Christmas shopping done and tempers get a bit short but I would definitely like to" he added. "How about you, what's your week like?"

"Well, I'm going to be one of those temperamental Christmas shoppers," she teased. "I'm actually heading down to Portland tomorrow so that I can get presents bought before the beginning of December. Dwight and I signed the papers so as of then I will be the new owner of The Haven Herald." She said excitedly.

Nathan hugged her tight. "I'm so happy for you so what do I call you now? Ms. Editor?"

"Hmmm, maybe Ms. Editor and Chief" she joked. "Anyway, I'll probably be busy Christmas shopping then cleaning up the Haven offices, but I will certainly try to make some time to see you."

"Deal"

Just then Stan came to the door. "Sorry boss, we got a call, there's a disturbance at the Shiny Skipper."

"Okay Stan, I'll go check it out. Thanks." And then when Stan left he turned to Paige with a heavy sigh. "Sorry, duty calls"

"That's okay, I need to get back to James and everyone. Dessert is waiting until I return. Happy Thanksgiving Nathan"

"Happy Thanksgiving Paige" Nathan kissed her one last time before walking her out and heading over to the Shiny Skipper to see what was going on.


	7. Chapter 7

Unfortunately the week after Thanksgiving didn't cooperate with Nathan and Paige. First Paige ended up staying in Portland an extra couple of days and things at the Police Station were very hectic.

Finally Nathan had enough; it had been a week since Paige had brought him Thanksgiving dinner. He called Paige and arranged for her to come over for dinner with James the following night after all she couldn't spend all her time cleaning up the Haven office, she needed to eat and he had been missing them this past week, he needed to see her and James.

* * *

Nathan heard the knock at his door and smiled. Finally he was going to see Paige again after what seemed like forever. He had barely opened the door when Paige barged in, her face was red and her lips were pursed together in anger. She was waving a file folder she held in her hand as she stormed into the house. "I want you to explain exactly what is going on here!" She demanded.

Nathan followed her back into the house, confused. "I'll be happy to give you an explanation if you'll stop waving those papers around and tell me what it is you're talking about." He tried to reach for her to hold her in place so that she would focus and while he didn't quite grab her, she at least stopped moving so erratically, walked over to the kitchen table and opened the file folder she was holding. Immediately, his stomach fell. The open file folder contained the photos Charlotte had on Audrey and all her personas. Nathan realized they must have been left at The Haven Herald where Paige obviously found them when she was cleaning out the office.

"You tell me about this Audrey Parker person who looks like me when we first met, but what are all of these? How are there pictures of all these women in different eras that all look like me? And what are these troubles that are mentioned in the file? And Aether? I saw your name mentioned in the file too – you're troubled. What, what is all this?" Paige demanded obviously disturbed by what she had found.

Nathan took a deep breath. "I was troubled, I'm not anymore. I'll tell you everything you want to know, but it's not a quick conversation. Do you want something to drink while we talk?"

The fact that Nathan said he would tell her seemed to calm Paige down a bit but she was still angry. "Coffee, I don't want to be impaired in any way for whatever possible explanation you have for this."

"Ok, have a seat and I'll brew a pot of coffee for you." Nathan took the time getting the coffee ready to focus and try and figure out exactly what he should tell Paige. He'd tell her everything eventually, but there were some things that were too painful for him to talk about just yet, like killing Duke. For tonight he needed to focus on the most pertinent details. He brought her the coffee and cream and a beer for himself. Interestingly as he sat down, he noticed that she didn't even bother with the cream she was drinking her coffee black.

"This may sound farfetched, but I promise you what I am about to tell you is the truth and there are others in town that can corroborate what I'm about to tell you. Dwight and Gloria probably know best everything that happened, but there are a lot of others that know at least part of what I'm about to tell you." He didn't want her to think he was trying to hide anything.

With that Nathan started to explain to Paige about how 500 years ago Mara and William created the troubles by putting Aether in people, how Mara did it because she wanted to get her father back but was misguided and her mother, Charlotte created the barn to help make Mara understand what she did was wrong, to rehabilitate her. He explained how every 27 years a new persona was overlaid over Mara but unfortunately it just made Mara more bitter, while the overlays showed more and more compassion for the troubled. From the pictures Paige had, Nathan told what he knew of the Veronica, Sarah, Lucy, and Lexie personalities. He went into more details about Audrey and her need to help people. He went on to explain about the different troubles and some of the people who had troubles in town and he explained how Audrey and he worked together to help those with the troubles. He then went on to explain how he had destroyed the barn because he couldn't bear to lose Audrey and how this allowed William to came back to town and how he managed to get Mara out. How Duke was troubled and his trouble was used to split Audrey from Mara, but then Mara used Duke to trouble the whole town. He talked about Vince and Dave Teagues and how they protected the town for all these years and what they sacrificed for the town, Dave dying and Vince becoming the controller of the new barn. He explained about Croatoan and the void. How he wanted to take revenge on the people from his world that banished him using Audrey but how in the end he redeemed himself a little by willingly leaving Haven but sadly it meant Audrey had to leave as the barn still needed a catalyst which was the love Audrey held to power it and take the troubles away. Finally he told her that Audrey had left just a month before Paige came to town. Obviously somehow, Audrey and Vince had figured out how she could come back and that was how Paige arrived in Haven.

It took practically the whole pot of coffee for Nathan to give her the information he had.

Paige just listened and drank her coffee and once Nathan was finished she just shook her head. "This is crazy, you expect me to believe this story you just told me? And let me guess, my Uncle Dave and Vince the lawyer are really Vince and Dave Teagues? They were made up to get me to come to town?"

"To come back where you belong."

"Are people going to force me to stay now?"

"Never. If you really want to leave, no one would stand in your way if that's what you really wanted."

You want me to believe I'm just an overlay, that I'm actually someone else, that all my memories aren't real, that my son isn't my son?"

"Deep down you know this is true, you know you can trust me but you're wrong, James is your son."

"No, I need to leave, this is too much." Paige stood and paced back and forth, rattled by everything Nathan had said.

"I can prove it." Nathan stood up and blurted out as Paige headed to the door.

"What? How?" Paige stopped and turned to look at Nathan.

"James is my son, our son. I know it sounds crazy, but I went back in time and met Sarah and we had a child."

"That was over 50 years ago, my son isn't even 6 months old. This really is too much, I have to leave." And with that Paige turned back towards the door.

"Sarah had a baby and I don't know exactly what happened but James was in the barn and came back as a baby with you. I know it's a lot to take in, but just know I'll be here waiting for you no matter what."

Paige nodded as she opened the door and left. Nathan went to the door, he wanted to follow but he knew that Paige, like Audrey, would need time to process everything that he had told her. Her question about being able to leave town was concerning, but he had to have faith that once she thought everything through; she would come back to him. They always found a way to come back to each other, this time it was her turn to come back to him.

After she left, Nathan called Dwight. "She knows."

"What happened?" Dwight asked, concern in his voice.

"She found Charlotte's file at The Haven Herald"

"Oh Geez, I'm sorry Nathan, I didn't even think to look for the files before I sold the Herald to her."

"It's okay, she was going to need to find out sooner or later. At least now it's out in the open."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I'm hoping she comes to see you, I told her you and Gloria know better than anyone what happened. Just tell her the truth if she does. She deserves that, no matter what happens."

"Ok, let me know if there's anything else you need.


	8. Chapter 8

Nathan waited to hear back from Paige once she had a chance to think about things. In the meantime, people seemed intent on letting him know her whereabouts so he knew she hadn't left town, which was a good sign. After a couple of days of no contact from her, he decided what his next step should be and took a trip into Bangor.

The following day he found Paige at Rosemary's having a cupcake. She looked up at him ready to say something, but before she had a chance to speak, Nathan piped up, "I know you're not ready to talk to me, I get that, I'll be here when you are, but I wanted to give you this." He pulled an envelope out of this pocket and handed it to her. "I left a DNA sample at a lab in Bangor in case you choose to get James tested." He hesitated, wanting to say more, wanting to ask her to come home with him, but he didn't. "I won't take anymore of your time. You know where you can find me when you're ready" and with that he walked away.

* * *

A week later, Dwight came by to see Nathan at the Police Station. "I hear you've been spending a lot of time at the station."

"Not much else for me to do with my time." Nathan smirked.

"You can't just drown yourself in work because Paige hasn't come around yet."

"I'm not, or at least I wasn't to start with. I know it may have seemed that way; I was just keeping busy until she was ready to talk to me. Now, I don't know, maybe I was wrong, what if she doesn't come around? I know I can't just sit around doing nothing so I might as well work."

"She'll come around, maybe she already has." Dwight commented, which peaked Nathan's interest. Dwight continued, "You know she stopped by to see me yesterday."

"How'd that go?"

"About how you'd expect, I guess. She had lots of questions about the troubles and Mara and Audrey and I answered them as best I could. She also asked about you. I gotta ask man, she seemed to know a lot about all the sacrifices everyone else has made to save Haven, why didn't you tell her about all that you sacrificed?"

"Wasn't really that important at the time. There were other more important things she needed to know, that I needed to explain to her, to make her understand."

"Well, she knows at least part of what you did now."

Nathan nodded.

Dwight continued, "I know she was also talking to Gloria and she also talked to Marion and Beatty so it sounds like she's being very thorough."

"I'd expect nothing less, pretty sure she won't quit until she has the whole story."

"I also heard she's going to have a copy of the Haven Herald out next week just before Christmas."

"That's what I heard too, heard she was doing a piece on the interim major."

* * *

Another week passed. The Haven Herald was published, and he knew she would have been busy getting the paper ready, but he really thought Paige would have been by to see him by now.

During that time, when he wasn't at the Police Station, he was at home, wrapping the presents for Paige and James that he had bought when he was in Bangor, and yes, he knew he had gone overboard on the purchases, he couldn't help himself, at the time he had been so sure everything was going to work out. He had also put together the crib he had bought for James, knowing Paige was just using one borrowed by the Boarding house right now.

But now, as he stood in his living room, he wondered if he would be able to return some of the gifts he had bought. Doubt was starting to creep in. What could he have done differently? Maybe Paige wasn't so much like Audrey; maybe he should have pushed her more?

* * *

Christmas eve found him again alone at his place. He contemplated if he should just head into the Police Station and maybe give one of the other detectives the night off when there was a knock at the door. He opened the door to find Paige standing there with James in her arms.

"Would you mind if we joined you for Christmas?" Paige asked tentatively.

"Come in" Nathan moved out of the way so she could get in the door.

She was barely in the door when she stopped short, looking at the Christmas tree and all the presents under it. "What is all this?"

Nathan smiled sheepishly, "presents for you and James, oh and a crib for James."

"Why did you do all this?"

"I knew, well, I hoped, that you would come around."

"Well the crib is beautiful, and it's about time for James to go to bed. Maybe he could try is out, see if it meets his approval?" Paige turned and smiled at Nathan.

Nathan smiled back and took James from her arms so that she could remove her coat. Then talking to James, "we can do that, can't we James, oh, look how much you've grown since I last saw you, and you're getting to be such a big boy aren't you." Nathan was a bit wistful about that, but they were here now he wasn't going to dwell on that. "Would you like to sleep in your new crib, hmmm, would you?"

While Nathan had been talking to James, Paige had prepared the crib and came back to start taking the snowsuit off of James. She then took James from Nathan, "okay, lets put you in the crib so you can sleep, little man. You can play with Nathan again in the morning."

Nathan lifted his head when he heard that and let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Paige wouldn't be saying that unless she meant it and that meant she had come to a decision and he was going to be part of it. "Can I get you something to drink?'

"Some wine would be nice."

Nathan grabbed a bottle of white wine from the fridge and wine glasses and came back to the living room. Paige was still standing by the Christmas tree, looking at the ornaments. Nathan poured the wine and handed her a glass.

"Thanks." Paige took a breath, "Nathan, I'm sorry it took so long to come see you."

"You're here now, that's what matters."

"I wanted to come back before now. In fact, the night you told me everything, after I walked out your door, I almost turned around and came back. Then when you saw me that day at Rosemary's, I wanted to say something, but you left so quickly, and then well, work got in the way and I was waiting for some information." She stopped, and then started again. "I remembered."

"You remembered." Nathan sputtered.

"Well not remembered, remembered, not with my head anyway but with my heart. In my heart I knew, I know being with you feels right. But being a journalist I guess I just needed my head to catch up at bit. You probably know, I spoke with a lot of people in town and while nobody really knows the full story everyone's stories are consistent and everything I heard I somehow knew was right"

"And…"

"And… I know this town is mixed up but I also know I belong here and I belong with you." Paige pulled an envelope out of her back pocket. "I have a present for you. I just got it yesterday," as she handed the envelope to Nathan.

He took the envelope from her and looked at the return address; the letter was from the lab in Bangor where he'd left his DNA sample. He looked her in the eyes and started to hand the envelope back to her. "I don't need this," he said honestly. "It doesn't matter what it says."

Paige pushed the envelope back at Nathan. "I know it doesn't matter to you and I realized it doesn't really matter to me either, but if we are going to have a life together, I don't want there to be any secrets between us." She hesitated, and then continued. "That means if I ask about my previous personalities or the troubles or what you sacrificed for this town, you need to tell me honestly, no lies and maybe, just maybe, I'll actually remember something rather than just feeling it. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I promise."

"And this envelope is the start of that" Paige pointed at the envelope in Nathan's hand. Nathan opened the envelope and the letter while Paige turned to stand beside him so she was able to read the letter at the same time. Still, Nathan read it aloud. "In the DNA testing of Nathan Wuornos and baby James, the tests find a 99.99% match that Nathan Wuornos is the biological father of baby James." To Nathan there wasn't any doubt but it still felt good to have in writing what he already knew. What felt even better though was the little side hug Paige gave him reading the report.

Nathan and Paige moved to the couch where Nathan sat down. In a very familiar fashion, Paige moved his leg so that she could cozy up to Nathan with her back to his chest. Nathan ran his fingers through her hair and kissed the top of her head occasionally as he listened to her tell him about everything she had done since the last time they were together. He was just enjoying listening to Paige talk when she half turned around to Nathan and said "I want to remember my real life. Can you tell me about how you and Audrey, actually how you and I met the first time? Maybe that will help me remember"

Nathan smiled. "The day I met Audrey, you the first time was similar to the day we met recently."

"What, really, how so?" Paige asked.

"I was driving along the bluffs, when I came across a car dangling off the cliff. Obviously bad driving is a trait of yours." He teased.

"Ha Ha very funny." She said as she swatted his arm.

"You, had swerved your vehicle to avoid a crack in the road, a trouble." He paused. "Actually my dad's trouble, but that's a story for another time. Anyway, I went over and knocked on the window to see if you needed help. In typical fashion, you told me no, you were fine." He smirked. "I pulled you out of the vehicle just before it fell off the cliff."

"Then I noticed you had a gun on her belt, so I pulled my gun on you. We had a bit of a stand off while we determined that you when you were Audrey was an FBI agent and I was HPD. Once we got that straightened around, I gave you a lift back into town to deal with the case you'd been sent to handle. That, of course, was after you slammed my hand in my truck door." He said dryly.

"Ouch, that must of hurt, so you're saying we also have a habit of injuring you?"

He smiled. "Actually, it didn't hurt, I had my trouble back then, I didn't feel it. It wasn't until Audrey had been around for awhile that I figured out that I could feel your touch and only yours."

"But now you feel everything?"

"Everything, yes."

"Maybe we should make sure," Paige said suggestively.

Nathan picked up on that right away "I think that is an excellent idea, perhaps in the bedroom?"

* * *

In the morning, James started to fuss, so Nathan unwrapped his arms from Paige to get up and take care of his son. Nathan walked around with James talking to him, telling him that he was his dad and all the things they would do together as James grew up until James started to settle down. Nathan heard Paige moving in the bed and turned with James to look at her.

Paige smiled, "why don't the two of you come back over and snuggle in the bed." Nathan smiled back, he wasn't ready to let James go so he happily brought James back and handed him to Paige. He then reached over for something in his nightstand and pulled out a little box.

"This isn't a Christmas present, but I don't want it to wait either" he said as he handed Paige the box and slide back into bed beside her and James.

Paige opened it and inside was a ring.

"I know we have time, but I don't want to waste another single moment being apart from you. We belong together and whether you remember being Audrey or not, know that I've always loved you; I always will love you. Will you marry me?"

Paige smiled at him, "being here with you I feel like I've finally found my home. Yes."

"Oh, and do you think we can get a dog?" Nathan added.

Paige laughed, "yes, I think a dog will fit nicely into our family."

Nathan smiled back at her and gave her a kiss knowing they would now be together forevermore.


End file.
